BuffaloWings

Wasn't it Marv who said "If you listen to the fans, you'll soon be sitting with them"? This situation may be the exception to that rule, but while Ralph correctly shouldn't take his advice from the fans, he should realize what they're saying. I think this is probably the best approach, with one exception...I'd have my mind made up right now that Jauron is gone by the bye week. No chance to evaluate him at the end of the season. There's no point in telling everyone you're going to evaluate, so bring out the hatchet now. I honestly can't see this team making the playoffs and you can clearly see the players have no confidence in the coaches. If I was Ralph, I'd call in Jauron with Guy, Modrak, and Brandon and lay down the ultimatum....show some improvement before the bye week or the firings begin. I don't know how many midseason coaching candidates would be available outside of the organization, but if there isn't any improvement before the bye, replace Jauron with Bobby April on an interim basis. A football guy needs to be brought in for the personnel decisions - players and coaches. Revamp the scouting (especially at the pro level) and start fresh...again. My feeling is that Ralph doesn't want to do that, but I don't see any other way around it.

I just voted and he's now down to 3%.

I imagine a lot has to do with whatever is in Jauron's contract, but perhaps they should negotiate a buyout. Maybe they can talk Jauron down a few million to just get the H out of there.

How does scrapping the no-huddle automatically mean delay of game penalties? Because they have more time to get the play in, the offense will be more lackadaisical about it? It's clear this no-huddle isn't working and it's killing the defense. It might be a kick to the teeth of the coaches' egos, but do something to slow this whole thing down. They have two solid RBs, so build the identity of a run-the-ball offense. That usually works.

By "this group", do you mean the players or the front office? I'd agree with that statement if you meant the latter, but not necessarily the former. I think the right coach can motivate these players to win. Nevertheless, Tim...how soon do you see Jauron losing his job? Ralph's comments yesterday didn't exactly inspire my confidence that he's willing to let Jauron go. My feeling is that we're stuck with Jauron through the season. If there's ANY point during the season, the bye week seems the most logical, but I'm not convinced that Jauron would get the boot during the season.

For one thing, it would eat up some clock and give the defense a little bit of rest. It's what they should've done against New Orleans and given how it hasn't been working well at all, why even do it in 88-degree weather when yuo know the defense will get worn down again. It might just help slow things down for Edwards and the o-line. When it doesn't work, it puts way too much pressure on the defense.

Do we really think Ralph is aware of that? The season ticket sales and individual game sales have pretty much topped out, so it's not like he's going to lose that. About the only thing hurt might be concession stands or merchandise sales at the games. Ralph may be embarrassed that half the people show up to the games, but he has his money. That said, if Russ Brandon knows anything about marketing (we know he's not fit to be a GM), he'd see this coming and make sure Jauron would be gone. It's not THE solution, but it would be a step in the right direction.

Agreed. I can not see Ralph getting rid of him in the middle of the season. I still believe that he wants continuity...even if it's mediocre continuity...and is more willing to start the 2010 season with a new staff.

Who's that?

Bingo. I'm still an Edwards fan, but he needs to sit for a while. He went through this confidence thing last year and it doesn't look like he has it back yet. Maybe sitting and watching Fitzpatrick for a while might motivate him. Not saying RF is someone to model after, but benching TE *should* send him a message. Keeping him in there while he's getting pounded doesn't help him at all.

Agreed. This is just a plain, uninspired team. It's as if they know what they're trying to do won't work.

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that. Remember how Lee Evans confronted the coaches in the preseason? He's been a classy guy ever since he was drafted and doing something like that isn't exactly within his character. Maybe...just maybe...as much as the players have supported Jauron, they might be seeing these results far too often and be willing to accept a change.

In my mind there are three big reasons why Jauron won't get fired right now: 1 - Injuries. Yes, it may be an excuse, but it exposes the lack of talent the coaching staff has to work with. The 2nd & 3rd stringers aren't exactly household names. You can't blame the coaches for injuries (well, sometimes you can, but I doubt it with this team). 2 - Continuity. There have been coaches fired in the middle of the season and it's been done before with this franchise, but (right or wrong) I truly believe Ralph thinks continuity is important. Getting rid of the head coach in the middle of the season is as anti-continuity as you can get. 3 - Potential replacements. I don't remember the last time a coach was fired in the middle of the season and someone from completely outside of the organization came in and took over (though I believe Marv did it in 1986 with the Bills). So, who would replace Jauron right now? Bobby April would be the most likely choice (he has the assistant coach label, after all), but who else would there be? Forget the big names - we know Ralph won't pony up the money - and it's not like you can grab a hot coordinator while his team is still playing. I realize the bye week is a popular choice of ours to say "that's when Jauron gets fired", but we're all assuming that Ralph is willing to pull the trigger. Unless Ralph is overwhelmed by people within the organization saying that he has to go now, Jauron is staying until the end of year.

If Jauron wasn't going to be fired after calling THE play that lost the Jets game in the Meadowlands last year, then why would we expect him to be fired after losing to a decent (albeit 0-3) team? Perhaps losing to Miami would bother Ralph more than anything, but I don't see Jauron going anywhere until the season is over.

Larry Quinn has news conferences? I'm not trying to take shots at you Tim, or dismiss your article (which I read), but what I see in the media is as soon as Owens says something...ANYTHING...that could remotely be taken as him calling out a teammate or coach, they're jumping all over him. Case in point...after the week 1 loss at New England*, he said in a Wednesday PC (and I'm paraphrasing) that Trent Edwards needs to survey the coverage and take shots down the field, etc. It wasn't said in a rant, just matter-of-factly in response to a seemingly legit question. On SportsCenter the next morning, I saw Mark Schlereth giving Owens the business and talking about how he's already opening his mouth and dividing the team. Huh??? It was as if Schlereth was just waiting for that moment and had his speech prepared. To me, that's jumping the gun. I know not everyone is doing this and as I said earlier, I understand the message your article was sending. I just think there's enough media types out there trying to goad these athletes - not maliciously, but to create a story. I have a feeling Alex Rodriguez understands this, as well.

Someone oughta shut down that site...I'm more than sick of hearing about people's tweets. If you have to say something, say it in front of a camera.

Or any player for that matter. These guys are being peppered by the media right after a loss. Considering the time and effort put into a game, I imagine it has to be very difficult to control your emotions when being asked the same thing over & over again. I'd compare it to being bugged by your friends & acquaintances for hours on end the day after being dumped by your girlfriend/boyfriend. By the time the 34th person asked you about it, you're ready to deck them because you're emotionally drained and probably still traumatized and certainly don't want to talk about it anymore.

Easy there...you're entitled to your opinion, but I think this is going a bit far. Remember, this is a guy who frequents this board and has a good rapport with some of us. I know he's using this board to do his job, but I think it's more than gracious of him to visit. Now that I've sucked up enough, let me weigh in.... I understand Tim's point of view, but I do think this is partly media-driven...though I don't think TO needs to express that unless he is specifically asked. Heck, TO has done WAY better answering the questions and talking to the media so far this year than he has in the past, yet the analysts and media types are looking for anything to show that he's blowing up again and about to divide the locker room. Yes, the offense is anemic and everyone has their theories on it, but if Owens went back to his old ways, I can't imagine what this board would be like. He hasn't said anything that's wrong or anything that (I imagine) any of the other players wouldn't agree with.

In all seriousness, if the guy was a government employee (DHS, FBI, etc.), the prudent thing to do would have been to inform the team's security that he'd be on the sidelines observing or whatever. The mere fact that he simply left the field in Atlanta after being approached leads me to believe it's a "spygate" type of thing, more so than a government operation being covered up. That said, I wonder why he was briefly detained & released in San Diego. We've seen a handful of "incidents" (such as a military exercise in NYC on Sept 11th, Air Force One flying over NYC earlier this year for a photo shoot) that the public did not know about, causing a panic. I know who we're talking about here, but if the govt was performing some undercover "stakeout", I would think they'd be telling the team what they're doing. I still agree with crayonz....very strange and likely to be swept under the rug. I'd rather this be some spygate-type conspiracy than a matter threatening national security.

Agreed, but Harrison should keep his mouth shut. A dirty, cheap-shot player shouldn't be criticizing anyone.

Fixed. Yeah, even if they go 0-16, Fisher isn't going anywhere.

This is just freaky...I'm praying for the kid. One question - was anyone spotting him? If so, where was the spotter?

This is why quick slants work. Even if a DB is glued to Evans/Owens/Reed, all they need to do is make a quick turn and be in front of the DB. Trent needs just those 2 seconds to get the pass away. If it's not there, then throw it over someone's head and onto the sidelines. If it's there, you force the DB to make a great play or go through the receiver to the ball (i.e., pass interference). Once these start working, run a few draw plays to slow down the pass rush. Once those draw plays get into the defense's mind, then the intermediate and longer plays become available.

It hurts those who travel to the game. I live in the Albany area and had to drive back home after the game (can't afford to take the day off from work). Friends of mine were driving in from Syracuse, as well. This was the first time in years that I've been able to get tickets for a September game, so while I hated the 4:00 start, I would rather have done this than wait for a November game when most of my friends wouldn't want to make the trip to sit in the cold.

After Ralph's decision to keep Jauron last December (when any other organization would have fired their coach), what makes you believe he'd do it now?